


The Harbinger

by Literatekatana



Series: There's an American [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Good Slytherins, Gryffindor, Hogwarts, Horcruxes, Hufflepuff, Ilvermorny, Ilvermorny House - Horned Serpent, Ilvermorny House - Pukwudgie, Ilvermorny House - Thunderbird, Ilvermorny House - Wampus, Ravenclaw, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:28:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25832065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Literatekatana/pseuds/Literatekatana
Summary: AU!DH 4thFate and Time clash in this final chapter of There's an American! Series. Lian is missing, believed dead since the Fall of the Astronomy Tower. Harry, armed with the truth of what must be done, sets out to find the Horcruxes, only to have an old friend bar his way. Adam, Theo, and Daphne follow their own path, trying to fight the rising darkness before it snuffs out the light.
Series: There's an American [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/944418
Kudos: 2





	1. Crashing Through Life

I swear, some days it would pay to be a No-Maj. On this day, in particular, I’d be getting out of school, ready to cut loose and embrace summer vacation. I’d be dreaming of sunny beaches and long days with my friends. But I’m not a No-Maj. I’m not even a squib. 

I’m a witch. 

I was born in Manhattan, New York on June 18th, 1979. My twin brother was born not two minutes later, and we spent the next few years causing absolute chaos and mayhem and loving every moment of it. Our little brother was born shortly after and we had a sister due a few years after him. But on the day my sister was born, on a hot day in August 1984...the unthinkable happened. My twin brother wasn’t just lost but taken and vanished, it seemed from the face of the earth. The event was so traumatic, my family tried to forget, tried to live on as normally as possible. At one point, I was convinced that my twin had died. But, midway through my first year at Ilvermorny, I learned the truth. He was still out there, somewhere. And I vowed to bring him home. 

In the meantime I grew up, discovering that I, unlike my father and his sister, had inherited my grandmother’s Legilimens. It’s not as simple as reading minds, though after years of practice it sure feels that way. The truth of it is being able to see memories of another person, experience their emotions and in my case, learn things I shouldn’t. I learned about far too much in a short amount of years, things that I should have figured out through my own struggles and mistakes. Nobody was to blame, I was simply gifted with something I couldn’t quite control during the formative years of my life. At least, some days it was a gift, most days a curse. I think secretly I yearned for a normal life. It was this secret wish that led me to learn to become an Animagus. The hope was that in the mind of an animal I could be confined to my own thoughts and feelings. Alas, my animagus form turned out to be a Wampus Cat: a magical creature capable of hypnosis and (you guessed it) Legilimency. So, I was stuck with it. 

Anyway, shortly after my school years began at Ilvermorny I began to have run-ins with a stranger dressed in Hogwarts robes. He told me that I’d find everything I needed to know about my twin at his school. I worked hard for years just so I could have the chance to go and find the answer to my soul’s question, but when I got there I was met with pride, conflict, and an ugly toad-faced witch with an affinity for pink. I found misinformation. I found brainwashing. I found friends and allies and people struggling to choose between light and darkness. But I didn’t find my brother. Oh, and I met the Boy-Who-Lived and saved his godfather from death by standing in the way of a pretty nasty dark curse that severed my right arm clean off and nearly went the way of the dodo myself. Luckily, I had enough sense to request my aunt--a nationally acclaimed and recognized Alchemist--who engineered and attached a steel arm to replace the one I had lost. 

During my summer of recovery, amongst other things, the stranger in Hogwarts garb appeared for one last time and gave me a silver hourglass I came to call the Blood-Turner because it's unique build seemed to only operate after I fed it my blood. And instead of taking me back a few hours, it would take me back years, and I’d often pop up in a completely different place. I would always return to the moment I left, though.

I returned to Hogwarts for a second year, still hoping I would find some hint, some clue to the whereabouts of my brother. In my free-time I practically lived in the library, burying myself in records and old pictures and just about anything that could help me find the truth. I always came up empty. I was really starting to feel discouraged by then.

Just months before my 18th birthday, I journeyed back in time nearly 22 years. I befriended a boy who attended Hogwarts in the class of ‘77. Through a series of deduction and trust, we both came to find that he was my missing twin. I wanted to bring him home straight away, but he refused. He wanted to stay behind and try to uncover the reasons he had been taken. I left, trusting that he [now armed with the truth] would find his own way back.

Now, I've never been one to let people inside my head. That's my job, you see. I've always had a hard time trusting people because from a very young age I was led to believe the only person I could count on was myself. But I feel in order to properly explain my story, I need to open my heart and mind. Expose myself.

My name is Julianne Queenie Kowalski, and this is the final part.

* * *

**Chapter One - Crashing Through Life**

It was early on a Monday, in late September 1975. A young woman walked through the campus square, her eyebrows furrowed as she scanned a map of the school, along with a list of her classes. She had dark hair, curled and styled expertly, pinned back from her face. She wore a sweater over a collared shirt, which had a gorgeous beach view embossed upon it with the words 'Gold Coast' printed across. Her button front skirt fell just past her knees. She was so busy trying to figure out where she was and where she was going she didn't notice anyone around her until: "S'cuse me? Miss?" She looked up from her schedule and came face to face with another girl, about her age. The stranger had long blonde hair pulled back into a plait running down her back, and her wide brown eyes were sparkling as she smiled. She was dressed in all denim. "I couldn't help but notice you look kinda lost. Need some help?"

The Yankee accent took her by surprise, but the first girl nodded. "That'd be a great help. Can you tell me where the Picquery building is?"

"Oh honey, you're on the wrong side of campus," the second girl laughed kindly. "But hey I'm headed there myself. Walk this way." Without asking permission, she hooked arms with the first and began to lead the way north. "So you're clearly not from around here, and by here I mean America. Where ya from? I'm May, by the way, May Kowalski."

"I'm Amaya Strother, and I'm from Melbourne, Australia."

"An Aussie? Can't say I've ever met one before. Pleasure's mine and all that. What brings ya to Salem? Ain’t they got uppity finishing schools back on your side of the pond?”

Amaya shook her head. “None worth my attendance. In any case, I needed to get away from home for a bit. Fresh air, new perspective, you understand.”

May tilted her head, questions dying to spill out of her lips but she recognized a runaway when she spotted one. Instead, she changed the subject. “Whatcha studying, Strother?"

"I'm studying international relations and wizarding law."

"Ooh, fancy! So you're basically gonna live in the Picquery building for the next two years."

"Yep."

"Fun! I'll be right next door in Flamel Hall! We should get lunch sometime."

"Flamel?" Amaya repeated. "You're an alchemist?"

"In the making, yeah," May shrugged. "I just finished an internship in France studying with Madame Perenelle herself and she highly suggested I continue my studies here at the institute."

"Wow, that's high praise coming from the wife of-"

May interrupted her compliment. It struck Amaya as rude but she let it slide. "Oh Nicolas gets the fame, sure, but he'd be nowhere without Perry."

"Hmm. I'm never going to let a man outshine my hard-earned work."

May patted her heartily on the shoulder, almost knocking her over in the process. "That's the spirit!"

\--

It was late November, 1975. The two girls walked the streets of New York, woolen coats and heavy scarves protecting their bodies against the cold. They turned down a residential street, the smaller one absently withdrawing her wand.

“Are you sure about this?” Amaya fidgeted with her wand, twirling it effortlessly between her fingers.

“Course I am! Mom’s always going on about the more the merrier.’” May placed a hand over her friend’s and said warningly, “What have I told you about magic in public—this isn’t Australia, where anything goes.”

“Sorry, nervous habit.” Amaya stowed her wand in her sleeve. “It still seems abrupt that I should encroach upon your family dinner.”

May practically shoved her up the stairs of the townhome they’d paused before. “You’re my friend and I’ve already told them you were coming. It’ll be fine! Relax.” And then she rang the bell before her reluctant guest could protest further.

A squat man with silver streaks in his dark hair opened the door. His mustache was flecked with grey, Amaya noticed, before registering that it was stretched in a wide and welcoming smile. “Happy Turkey Day! Where’s my little girl?”

May popped her head over Amaya’s. “Dad! I’m 21 already, I’m not little anymore!” She held her angry face for a few seconds before hugging her father tightly. “You smell like piernizcki!”

“Been working since dawn,” Mr. Kowalski’s eyes fell on Amaya again. “Come in, girls, it’s freezing out here!” He waved them inside and shut the cold out behind them. "Sweetie, are you gonna introduce your friend?"

May gave a start as though she'd forgotten Amaya was there. "Right! Dad, this is Amaya. Amaya, this is my father, Jacob Kowalski."

Jacob offered his right hand and Amaya took it, returning the firm shake with as good a squeeze as she could muster. Her father always scolded her when she shook hands like a dead fish. "Ah, that's a good grip you got there. Welcome to our home! Please come in."

May took her arm and dragged her into the kitchen where Amaya was then introduced to her mother, a svelte woman by the name of Queenie. Queenie had the same wide eyes as her daughter, though hers were a beautiful blue. Her faded blonde hair seemed to be skipping grey and transitioning into white. She greeted Amaya warmly and showed her off to the rest of the family: Queenie's sister, Tina: her brother-in-law, Newt: his brother, Theseus: her nephews, Philip and Everard.

"Where's David?" May asked, pouring herself a goblet of steaming butterbeer.

"He's closing up shop," Jacob answered, checking the oven. "He'll be here in time for dinner." May had told Amaya before that while her mother preferred to cook most meals with magic, on special holidays her father had insisted they cook the 'normal' way. Amaya had yet to wrap her head around a wandless being married to an accomplished witch, and being able to live side-by-side with magic.

She accepted the goblet offered her by May's aunt, thanked her and took a sip as she glanced around at the assembled group. All family. All happy to be together. What a thing! The last time she'd been in the same room as all her family…well. 'Happy' was not the word used to describe that memorable event. She was kept from falling into memories of the past by May snorting with laughter at a joke her cousin had told her. Everard ducked as a spray of butterbeer shot out of her nose. Amaya smiled despite her discomfort, hovering towards the corner of the room. She felt so out of place. Maybe it was best if she just left now and spent the day back in her dormitory on campus. She could apologize to May later, yes, that would be best. She set down her goblet on the nearest surface and inched her way to the entrance hall. Everyone was so busy with their own merriment surely no one would notice if she could just grab her coat and boots and-"Oop!"

She had collided with something solid. Thinking it had been a wall, she turned to find herself staring at a man's torso. It was wearing a navy blue dress shirt, and Amaya felt color creep into her cheeks as she raised her eyes to meet the owner of that torso. She found two blue eyes, clear and crisp as a morning sky. They seemed to stare into her soul and for a moment she couldn't remember how to breathe.

"Hello. You must be my sister's friend," he offered her a pleasant smile and she felt her senses starting to operate once again.

"Yes, I'm Amaya. You must be my friend's brother. David, was it?"

She returned to the gathering, and for the rest of the evening enjoyed herself. She even had a lovely conversation with May's uncle Newt, who had written the book on Magizoology. Amaya couldn't be sure but she prayed no one had noticed how frequently her eyes had been drawn to a certain someone that day, or how every time she did her heartbeat seemed to quicken and a secret smile crossed her face.

She never noticed Queenie and May observing her, clinking their goblets together in victory.

\--

It was late on a Thursday in June, 1976. Amaya waited pensively at the table, glancing at the rotating door every second or so. She had not seen him in well over a year; the fact that he'd tracked her down and invited her to meet was bold but she had no choice but to accept. She'd dressed up, but the tight fabric of her dress seemed to be suffocating her, crushing her ribs and banishing the air from her lungs. She wanted to be anywhere but here, unfortunately escape wasn't an option, he'd find her again. There was no point in hiding…

"Amaya?"

She jumped in her seat, heart coming to a full stop until she realized it wasn't him. Sighing in relief she cried, "David! What are you doing here?"

"Finishing up a delivery--didn't you know? this restaurant has a deal with the bakery," he took in her appearance and she felt herself blush under his gaze. "Oh lord, are you on a date?"

His disbelief gave her a sense of triumph but she ignored it. "Yes, surprisingly enough, some men do find me attractive."

He looked hurt by her comment and didn't bother to hide it. "I didn't mean anything by it, I just didn't know you were interested in anyone."

"It's not that simple," she began. He of all people couldn't get the wrong idea about this situation. "I have to-"

"Ah. Darling," a drawling voice caused her to inhale sharply. Amaya watched in dismay as he drew near, removed his traveling cloak and tossed it at David with a pointed flourish. "A bottle of your finest elf-made wine, for the table."

Amaya rose to her feet, a sudden wave of indignation washing away her initial fear. "Lucius! He doesn't work here, he's my friend!"

Lucius sneered down his nose at David, though admittedly David bested him in height. Rather, Lucius sneered over his nose at David. "Indeed? How dreadful." He focused his attention back on her and took her hand in his own. "I suppose you couldn't do any better, seeing as you've chosen to dwell amongst the savages. How I have missed you, love," as he bent to kiss her hand, David dropped the cloak on the floor and frowned at Amaya, mouthing the word 'love' and then feigning a vomit all over Lucius. Amaya bit her tongue to keep from chuckling but Lucius mistook the smile as one for himself. "I think it best if we find another establishment to enjoy each other's company, I had no idea this place allowed in the rabble."

Amaya cleared her throat. "There's no need for that, you were always so dramatic."

Lucius ignored her, his thumb stroking her left ring finger. "My dear, where is your engagement ring? Did you not receive it with my letter?"

"I did." Amaya pulled her hand free and held the ring out to him. "I decline your offer, just as I did before."

He curled his lip. "You seem to have remained under the delusion that you or I has a choice in the matter. Your father and mine made the arrangement, and it is our solemn duty to carry it out. You will be my wife-!"

"I would rather die than be subject to your and your pureblooded elitist ways!" Amaya kept her voice level but coated her tone in steel. "Leave before I'm forced to repeat the past. You can't have forgotten the way last time ended." She allowed a small smirk to pass her lips. "I certainly haven't."

"The contract of our betrothal is binding and cannot be undone!"

"Well, this is awkward," David had walked around Lucius and now placed his arm around Amaya's shoulders, smiling sheepishly down at the wizard who was seconds from withdrawing his wand. "I just spoke to Amaya's father last week and he agreed to terminate that very same contract so that we could be wed." He shrugged and shook his head as he met Amaya's stunned expression. "I had the whole thing planned out, but given Mr. Grumpy-McSnootypants here it's probably best I tell you now how deeply I love you and want to spend the rest of my life making you smile. Baby, the sun shines brighter with you around and my heart sings when you enter the room."

Amaya's face was surely a deep crimson by then as David dropped down on one knee as though they were the only people in the world, rather than two of three in a room filled with New York's finest witches and wizards, all of whom had stopped their dining to watch the faux-proposal unfurl. "DAviD what do you think you're doing?"

"I want to shout it from the rooftops, I think the world should be envious of the love we share because it's one in a million years and always will be. Amaya Florence Strother, will you make me the luckiest guy on earth and marry me?" He looked at her with those piercing eyes, his face giving away nothing. Was this a joke? Or was he being serious..?

Anything's better than a life with Lucius, she amended privately, before saying, "Yes."

The whole establishment, diners, servers and cooks erupted into applause and whistles. David scooped her up in his arms and swung her about. Her heel collided with something she was pretty sure was Lucius before he set her back on her feet. David turned to the room at large and said, "A bottle of the finest elf-made wine for everyone here--on this guy!" He pointed at Lucius who was scrambling to rise from where he'd hit the floor. "Goodnight everybody!"

Taking Amaya's hand he led the way out onto the street, helped her into the delivery truck and drove speedily away. The cab was filled with a palpable awkwardness, broken when Amaya could no longer contain her amusement. "Did you see his face??"

"Which time? When I called him Grumpy-McSnootypants or when you just about knocked him flat?" David flashed her a brilliant grin before he laughed as well. "Where do you find a guy like that, anyway? Geez Louise…"

Amaya sighed, though she still felt lighter than she had in ages. "Like he said, our fathers arranged for us to be married while we were young--well, I was young, he was already at school."

"How does your father know his?"

"Business, in all likelihood. Anyway, we were supposed to be married by now, probably with a baby or two but I…"

"You ran." David finished simply. "Good, he doesn't deserve you."

"And you do?" Amaya surprised herself with her boldness, but she had to address the elephant in the room.

At the next stoplight, David turned to her. "I apologize if I crossed a line back there, but he was creepy and persistent: two traits that never bring good things in my experience. Not to mention you looked…" he hesitated, glancing at the signal light though it remained resolutely red.

"Upset?"

"Terrified." He looked back at her, concern etched into his face. "Has he ever hurt you before?"

Amaya shook her head. "I've never given him the chance. And you didn't cross a line. I was grateful…it was very quick thinking on your part. I almost believed you but then you wouldn't have had a prayer of speaking to my father."

"Oh, but I did speak to him, and he did grant me his blessing." David's casual tone sent bolts of lightning through her body. She gaped at him, waiting for him to declare he was joking. He didn't. As the light turned green, he flashed that grin at her again, the one that gave her butterflies and made her head spin. "We just got engaged."

"Y-you can't be serious," she stammered out at last, nearly three blocks later.

"Why not?"

"We haven't even had a single date. Our friendship has always been long-distance since I spend nearly all my time in Salem, and-"

"And yet everything I said just then was true. It's okay though, I'm up for a long engagement. You go back to Salem and finish your education. I'll wait for you."

He pulled off on Rivington street, the location of his father's bakery and his parents home. He parked the truck just outside and hopped out, striding around the cab to open the door for her. He did so with an innocent smile. Meanwhile, she was still waiting for him to say he was joking.

"We can't be engaged, David." she said at last, signaling to him that the jig was up and he didn't have to play with her anymore.

"Sure we can."

"David, stop, it's not funny anymore."

He held her face in his hands, his touch and gaze surprisingly gentle as he lowered his face. "I'm not kidding. I love you. And I'll wait until you're ready to love me back." As he went to straighten, Amaya felt her hands grab his collar and pull him back down. She pressed her stained lips to his cheek before releasing him just as quickly as she'd grabbed him. "Actually I think I'd better wait until you're ready. What kind of man gets engaged before he has a ring?" She winked at his flabbergasted expression, before turning on the spot and disapparated all the way to her off-campus apartment, leaving him blushing outside of Kowalski's Quality Baked Goods with a red-lip-print on his cheek.

\--

It was a fine Friday in April, 1977. Having graduated (with honors) a week ago, Amaya had just moved into her family's summer home. The anti-wandless charms on the place made it seem like a rundown, burnt building all the wandless just ignored. But upon crossing the front steps, its true nature would shine upon those with magic in their blood. She'd landed a job with MACUSA in the DOUMO so she had to make the move to New York, obviously. Admittedly, there was another reason she'd returned to the bustling city…

There was a knock at the door. She left her study just to the left of the entry way and opened the door inward to reveal David, her "fiancé". Amaya had found out through her mother that David had indeed contacted and received her father's blessing, though admittedly it was after the incident of the previous summer. Humiliated, Lucius Malfoy had returned to England and arranged a marriage for himself with some woman of another rich, pureblooded line. She would never have to worry about that man again, thanks to David's intervention. They'd written each other nearly everyday since then, and he'd made the journey northeast to visit her at each holiday. Their friendship had grown and bloomed into something more, and finding him at her doorstep, the little magic that flowed in his veins just enough to see the house as it truly was, down on one knee once again…her heart could barely contain itself. (She hardly noticed he'd come prepared this time with a ring.) She hugged and kissed him before he'd uttered a single word.

\--

On Black Friday, 1978, Amaya realized that she was late.

\--

March 1984

She and David herded their little rascals onto the couch in the living room. Julianne was looking lethargic after her late breakfast, and while they technically needed to scold Oliver for scooping a tablespoon of sugar into her bowl every time she looked away, the announcement they had to make was more important. Jacob II sat between them, looking curiously at his mother's stomach, where her hands had rested. David had his arms wrapped around her shoulders as they smiled down at their children.

"Kids, do you remember when we brought home your little brother?" David asked.

Julianne hiccupped. "Nope. I asked for a baby dragon."

"Still waiting," Oliver chimed.

"Maybe we'll get you a dragon next year," Amaya said, if only to satisfy them for the time-being. "In a few months, you're all going to have a new sibling. Won't that be exciting?"

"What's it gonna do?" Oliver asked. "The last baby you brought only slept and pooped."

"And barfed." Julianne added.

Amaya sighed, shaking her head. "Why did I bother? They'll find out soon enough."

David kissed her forehead. "We'll just keep reminding them overtime. They'll love another sibling, you'll see. And the next…and the next…and the next-next..!"

Amaya giggled but soon stopped as Julianne turned a pale shade of green and brought her breakfast back up all over her brothers.

She never cared for candy or sweets much thereafter.

\--

The room was quiet, apart from the desperate sobs that shook her entire body. David cradled her in his arms, tears falling from his eyes. It had been a week since Oliver had disappeared. The aurors were doing all they could to track him down but it was as if he'd vanished off the face of the earth. They had no leads. No hints of where he could be. He was only five years old…

Amaya refused to cry in front of Julianne and Jacob, and every time she looked at Seraphina she felt as though her heart had been ripped down the middle.

Our son…my beautiful boy…She could still see his face, his eyes so piercing like his fathers, his dark locks he'd inherited from her…his cheeky grin when he'd done something silly or naughty and believed he could get away with it. She was mortified to think the last thing she'd ever told him was he wasn't supposed to show off magic. The day before Seraphina's birth he and Julianne had been sent home early, escorted by the head of the Improper Use of Magic office from MACUSA. Apparently, her eldest son had brought a fake wand to kindergarten. Chaos ensued. She'd scolded him until it had been drilled into his mind: He wasn't supposed to talk about magic. In his own words: 'Not 'post to tell.'

It had been one of the last things he'd said before his disappearance. It was all she could cling to in her memory. It was all she had left of him.

\--

"Amaya, sweetie?" she looked up to find her mother-in-law bearing down on her. "Can we talk?"

Amaya nodded and handed Seraphina off to her Dziadek, who smiled happily and cooed as she reached for his moustache. Following Queenie into the sitting room, she found her eldest sitting on the love seat with her hands folded in her lap. "What's this about?"

Queenie sat beside Julianne, nodding encouragingly at her. "It's alright, honey. Show your momma."

Julianne, though barely six years old, made eye contact with her mother unflinchingly. "It's okay, mommy, I miss him too."

Amaya blinked, frowning a question at Queenie, who looked excited for some reason. "What are you talking about?"

"Our birthday was last week, he should've been there. You've been thinking about Ollie a lot lately. Crying too, when you think no one can hear you. It's okay. I miss him too." Julianne sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. Amaya stared, not daring to believe what this must mean.

It clicked far too late in Queenie's aging mind what her granddaughter was talking about, but she tried to focus on the positive. "She's a Legilimens! I didn't dare hope after it didn't show up in May but it must've skipped a generation!"

Great, my child can read my mind.

"Not read it," Julianne replied aloud. "Babi says I just tap into emotions and memories."

Amaya gave a pained smile. "Wonderful. Has Babi also volunteered to teach you how to control this?"

She looked up in dismay as Queenie had already floated away to make faces at Seraphina with Jacob. Amaya looked back at her daughter, who apparently possessed a very rare ability.

When next she had a moment with Queenie, Amaya asked how she was supposed to raise Julianne now.

Queenie blinked at her in surprise. "Well, if you haven't already been teaching and feeding her and letting her sleep in a bed we need to have another talk." She laughed at her own tease. "Just treat her like a normal kid, and mind your thoughts when she's around. Oh, and ya might wanna sign her up for some classes out of the house, socialize the poor thing she's just drifting around lately."

So, Amaya and David sent their daughter to her first ballet class. There, she befriended the only boy, a surly looking fellow with olive skin and black hair by the name of Matteo Bianchi. She takes to the lessons like a fish to water, learning more and more with every passing day. Amaya suspects she uses her Legilimency to learn the dances quicker, but Queenie disagreed. "She doesn't have the capacity to focus her mind towards others and move, not yet. A few years from now, maybe, but let her enjoy this time."

\--

"So! Teacher of the year, again!" Amaya nudged May with her shoulder. "Honestly, at this rate you'll be made deputy headmistress."

May rolled her eyes. "Don't even joke! Besides, its not like Professor Fontaine is going anywhere." She accepted the bottled butterbeer from her brother as he sat down opposite them. "How's business since Dad retired?"

David gave a non-committal gesture but Amaya knew it was going well. Her husband had practically taken over the bakery before they'd even met, the absence of Jacob now had little to no impact on his work ethic. "I get by. How're the kids?"

May took a swig before answering, allowing them to simmer in their anticipation. "Well, Julianne is fighting tooth and nail to be top of her year; her greatest competition being her friend Jason and this other boy named Adam. I tell ya, ever since I told her that some of the teachers worried about her being a squib a few years back she's doubled her self-motivation and buckled down. Keeps talking bout Hogwash every so often but that can't be helped." She shrugged for effect. "I guess you gotta lose a good thing to appreciate what you had." May had another drink before continuing, oblivious to the discomfort she'd caused her sister-in-law. "Little Jake on the other hand--he's kinda quiet, like how Amaya was back when I first found her on campus. He's got a friend or two, keeps his nose clean--good student. I don't teach Pukwudgie's all that often as Alchemy and healing magic tends to wander into dark magic territory and they frown on that at Ilvermorny. Now if I taught at Durmstrang-!"

"Yes, yes, you'd be the greatest professor ever--tell us about the Bluebone incident," David said pointedly, his butterbeer untouched as he'd been listening with great interest. Amaya smiled into her tea, he'd always had laser focus when it came to his children. From the moment they'd been born--he'd followed the nurses everywhere, refusing to let a single one out of his sight. It was details like that which made her love him evermore.

"Ah. Well, as to that…" May released a long exhale as she contemplated her next few words. "So! Four years ago now, Professor Bluebone joins the staff as the new No-Maj studies teacher, right? Julianne was in her first year I think. Anyway, for the first year or so he's doing just fine, but as students progress in his class he starts teaching them…things off-book."

Amaya frowned. "What sort of things?"

May returned the frown. "What do you know about scourers?" Even David inhaled sharply at that. Amaya however, remained in the dark.

"Not much. I've heard the term in passing at the office but…"

"Mm. Not a pleasant bunch. They were basically wizarding outlaws, mercenaries, they betrayed their own kind for money or power, and they liked killing just a little bit too much. They were the reason the North American wizards and witches banded together to form MACUSA, and in the hunt for justice the scourers faded into the No-Maj community, but a hint of their beliefs lingered. Turns out Bluebone is a false name, he's actually descended from a long line of Barebones, and he's been trying to brainwash the students in his class."

Amaya placed a hand to her chest, trying to remember if either of her children had taken No-Maj studies--there wouldn't have been a point, given that they spend half of their time in the No-Maj world but what if-?

"Did he succeed?" asked David.

"He might've, if Julie had transferred two years ago like she'd wanted to," May said calmly, finishing off her drink in a single gulp. "Little busybody caught on to his wavelength and proceeded to lead a student rebellion against him. All four houses banded together and chased him straight into the waiting arms of the aurors, it was-" she gave a chef's kiss to the air above. "Magnifique."

\--

Julianne whimpered from where she lay on the table, cheeks stained with tears. Amaya held her left hand tightly and made soft shushing noises in an attempt to calm her daughter. May stood on the opposite side, adjusting the wires and gears of the steel prosthetic, her face screwed up in concentration. Amaya could not bear to look at her daughter's injury--if you could call it that. The first time she'd laid eyes on Julianne after she'd been returned to them by the English Ministry her brain had panicked somewhat and tried to imagine the missing forearm into place. She could still see traces of dark magic where the flesh and bone had been ripped apart, just thinking about what Julianne must be suffering made her want to cry. Amaya prayed to anyone listening for some way she could take on the pain instead.

May held up her wand and a silver disk, taking a steadying breath. “Okay kid, I’m gonna need you to be brave just a little bit longer. I need to place this on your arm, okay?” She held up the disk to Julianne’s face, waiting for her to nod.

“Wha-what is that?”

“It’s going to connect your nerves to your prosthetic; so you can move like you used to,” May explained simply. “This is going to hurt.”

“Why would you tell me that—AAAGH!” Julianne screeched as the device connected to her stubbed arm, latching onto the flesh and bone. Amaya lost feeling in her fingers but made no sound. She had to be strong for her daughter.

“Because I don’t like it when doctors or healers lie,” May explained. “If you’ve ever got to look out for someone’s well being, don’t you dare lie to them.”

Amaya ran her hand through Julianne’s hair. “My brave girl...it’s almost over with.”

Julianne shook her head. “Just get on with it. I take it, just—AAAAAAAAGH!” She wailed as her body convulsed, almost rejecting the new metal attachment. “WHY! Why does it hurt so much?!”

Amaya grimaced, again wishing she could switch places with her daughter in that moment. She'd give anything to make this nightmare disappear. “Honey, it's because you were attacked by dark magic...if you’d been in a car accident or something, magic could fix you right up, good as new…but whatever evil curse that woman used on you...it prevents healing spells from having any effect at all.”

May nodded at this, while making the final adjustments on the steel arm. “The fact that you turned to Alchemy as your solution was inspired, but the lingering effects of the spell that hurt you are fighting. It doesn’t want you to recover or come back stronger. You have to push back, you cannot let this injury define or weaken you.”

For the first time, Amaya spotted a glint of hope in Julianne's eyes. “I think I can do that.”

\--

They were welcomed into the enormous castle by a man claiming to be her Head of House. He had a rather unpleasant air about him, David thought, with his hook nose and greasy hair and beady little eyes. And what kind of name was 'Severus' anyway? Amaya held his hand as they walked through the entrance hall and down a flight of stairs into a cold, windowless corridor. The only light was from torches every yard or so and he got the impression that if they weren't careful they may well get lost down there. Finally the greasy man led them into his office, and asked that they wait while he fetched the transfer documents. David rather thought that they'd all breathe a little easier when Lian returned to Ilvermorny. Hopefully she could get back on track and graduate with the rest of her friends, and this entire Hogwash nonsense would be over and done with.

Not long after the Snape fellow had left them, (May had begun to examine the many jars on the shelves with sounds of interest) the door banged open and a teenage boy marched inside. He was wearing the standard school robes, plain black, with silver and green trimmings. Over his heart he bore a badge with a snake. He was quite skinny, his dark brown hair fell into his face and almost concealed his eyes. He stared blankly at the three of them, likely expecting the professor, not strange Americans.

"Sorry to intrude," he began politely. "I was looking for Professor Snape."

"He said he'd be back soon," David replied, equally polite. "You're not intruding; if anything we're the intruders. You're welcome to wait for him here, if you'd like."

The boy pushed his fringe out of his face, his eyes round in surprise as David spoke. When he'd finished, the boy asked, "Mr. Kowalski?"

David arched an eyebrow. "Yeah?" Did he know this kid?

Amaya tapped his arm. "Don't be rude, David. He's probably one of her friends."

Now the boy looked at her in surprise. "Not quite, Mrs. Kowalski. Lian insisted we weren't friends."

May looked around at that, withdrawing her hand from a jar of eyeballs in the corner. She took in the boy in three seconds and laughed softly. "Then you must be a good one." She moved forward, extending her hand. "May Kowalski. I'm Lian's aunt. Who might you be?"

The boy gulped, and David wondered why he looked so upset. "My name is Theodore Nott." He paused to look around at all of them again before adding, "I am so sorry for your loss."

Amaya blinked. "Our loss?" Then it clicked in her mind. "What are you talking about; didn't anybody tell you?"

"Huh?"

May shook her head, her eyes on Theodore. "Well they wouldn't, it only just happened, Amaya. Kid, she's not dead. Calm down."

Theodore's face flashed a mixture of relief and conflict. For a moment David thought he might have a seizure. He'd have to have yet another talk with Lian the second they got back home--she had to stop leading boys on or she'd get in trouble. Again. "But…no one had seen her, and she wasn't in the hospital wing with the rest…"

"Well she wouldn't be," Amaya sniffed. "Her condition is hardly within that healer's criteria."

May rushed to clarify to the boy. "She means that no one in the hospital wing would know what to do to help her. Fortunately the little smart-aleck was conscious enough to ask for me."

"Was?" Theodore repeated numbly.

"Hold on," David frowned down at him. "Were you there the night it happened?"

"Can I see her?" asked Theodore, ignoring his question. Apparently David had developed a condition where nobody listened to him anymore. Great. Just great.

"Sure thing, if you don't mind traveling across the Atlantic first," David replied, smiling despite himself. "She'll wake up at home, the way God intended. We stayed behind to pick up the paperwork."

"What?" Theodore's eyes were drawn to Snape's desk, where Lian's student records were out for all to see.

"I mean, no offense kid, but I gotta protect my family. I can do a much better job if we're all on the same continent." He was blunt, but it had to be said.

Theodore was quiet for quite some time, apparently deep in thought. When they could bear the silence no longer, May clicked her fingers at him. "Kid? You still with us?"

He cleared his throat. "All due respect sir, but I don't think Lian wants to leave Hogwarts."

David had to admit, that was the only answer he respected enough to engage with; had he said something like 'please let her stay!' he'd have dismissed the subject altogether. "And what evidence would you have of that, Mr. Nott?" he replied diplomatically, as though they were equals politely disagreeing over proper cookie ingredients.

"Assuming I have my facts right," Theodore continued in that same, calm tone. "She's been trying to get into Hogwarts since before her magic turned up. In my ten months of knowing her, she's never struck me as the type to get knocked down and simply give up. Whatever injuries she is currently suffering, I doubt she'd allow it to keep her from returning to this school."

May was grinning, Amaya looked up at David with a knowing look in her eyes. For his part, he gave a small sigh, before at last replying, "Spoken like a true ally."

\--

"He's a Malfoy!" David hissed as they heard Lian's bedroom door shut. Her room had been sound-proofed years ago but he'd never regretted that decision more than he did in that moment. "Our daughter's cavorting with a MALFOY?? What if he is actually Grumpy-McSnootypants' spawn?? What if he tries to date Lian?? What if-" he glanced at his wife who was removing her make-up before the bathroom mirror. "-are you even listening to me?"

"Yes dear," she mumbled as she washed her face with little circular motions. "Spawn of evil and all that, yes."

He moved to stand behind her, frowning at his grumpy reflection. "Why aren't you more concerned about this??"

"Neither of them are dating our daughter, sweetie," Amaya stated. "Calm down."

"Just because they aren't doesn't mean they don't want to," David growled, reaching for his toothbrush. He'd had a hard enough time keeping a straight face through dinner after learning the identity of the pale-faced boy. He was Lucius Malfoy in miniature. It was creepy. If David hadn't worked all those years in the bakery serving some less than friendly individuals he might not have been able to get away with his innocent act. "And how do you know she doesn't want to date one of them?"

"Lian hasn't had a crush on anyone since that boy Anders," Amaya said. "And she's displayed none of the signs recently as she did back then. They're just friends to her, I'm sure of it."

David scrubbed his back molars before spitting into the sink, his lips covered in white foam. "I thought she called them her 'allies', isn't that her codeword for people she'd be interested in or something?"

"You know very well she only said that to appease Jason and Matt."

"No dear, you know that very well. It would seem that I have been left in the dark in regards to such matters." David resumed brushing his teeth, grumbling under his breath all the while. He kept his ears on alert, just to be sure that those boys left, or else he'd have to storm up there and kick them to the curb himself. It was just plain inappropriate!

"I think Lian secretly wants a normal romance," Amaya said, more to herself than to him, but he choked on his toothpaste all the same. "But, due to her ability to see into everyone's mind, she makes snap decisions on whether or not they suit her and then she moves on." She patted his back as he coughed and spat until he could breathe again. "Hopefully she'll be patient, like I was, and wait for the right man to come along and propose to her in public to prevent her from falling prey to Mr. Grumpy-McSnootypants. It doesn't get much more romantic than that," she raised herself on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Don't stay up too late, you've work early tomorrow. She'll kick them out for you."

\--

It was late that Tuesday morning when the horrible news arrived. Amaya Strother-Kowalski stalked through the halls of MACUSA, her assistant jogging to keep up with her, while still checking his clipboard and avoiding a collision with other workers as they went. "I'll need the reports from last weeks arrests on my desk before break. Don't forget my meeting with the Heads of the Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation and the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes--they've been dodging me all month. I need you to run down to Communications and request a series of memos be sent, I'll have the list ready for you on my desk when you return with those reports. Also, if you wouldn't mind-"

"Tea," her assistant replied before she could even ask, handing her a cup with a sleeve and lid. "Bengal spice with lemon and honey. I sorted the arrest paperwork last night and set them in alphabetical order on your desk last night before I left the office. The heads have been receiving reminders of the meeting both the date, time and directions to your conference room in case they've conveniently forgotten the location. If you'll have that list ready for me I'd happily speak with Communications. They simply adore me down there, if I do say so myself."

Amaya took a sip of her tea as she listened to him, delighted to find it was properly steeped and not overly sweetened. Perfect. "Why shouldn't they? Pritchards would snatch you away from me in the blink of an eye if he thought he could get away with it. What would I do without you, Pollux?"

He shrugged and gave a long-suffering sigh. "Suffer." He opened the door to her office and stood back to allow her in first. Amaya set her tea down and sighed at the stack of paperwork she had awaiting her. "Would you mind fetching me a new quill or two from supplies on your way back from Pritchard?"

"Of course. A new bottle of ink as well, I should imagine." He stood by while she wrote out the memo's she wanted sent out and handed them to him. It was only then she'd spotted an official-looking envelope set near her name-plate. Pollux noticed it as well and said, "Another request for your hat in the ring?"

"I should hope not," Amaya sighed, staring at the seal with a small frown. "Actually I think this crest is…yes, it's from the British Ministry." She glanced up and saw Pollux was hovering in the doorway, apparently too curious for his own good again. "Go on, I'll tell you the highlights when you get back." He nodded and hurried away to the lift.

Sighing, she broke the wax seal and opened the envelope, expecting an official document. Instead, she found a letter signed by a Rufus Scrimgeour, whoever that was.

Dear Mrs. Strother-Kowalski,

As the British Minister for Magic, I regret to inform you that as of April the 22nd, 1997, your daughter, Julianne Kowalski, has been pronounced dead. An attack on Hogwarts by a notorious criminal group calling themselves Death Eaters stormed the castle halls and attacked many of the students and teachers. Your daughter fought bravely against them til the bitter end. My condolences for your loss-

Amaya folded the letter and stowed it in her robes, her eyes warm and wet, her legs shaking as she got to her feet. It couldn't be true. It couldn't be true! First Oliver and now…no! She wasn't dead, she couldn't be- Amaya heard a sob escape her throat. No! She had to be strong. She had to go. What good was sitting in this office? She couldn't remember--David! She had to get to David. Together they could figure this out…

Staggering out of her office and down the hall towards the fireplaces, she kept her head high and shoulders back, ignoring the wetness of her eyes or the fact that she needed to sniff. She didn't have time to waste on a meltdown, she had to go to her daughter--who wasn't dead! She couldn't be dead.

Please..! Not my Julianne…not my daughter!


	2. Banished

He awoke to the scent of maple syrup and pancakes. The delicious aroma gave him the strength to roll out of bed, fumble for his slippers, and shuffle from the guest room to the upstairs kitchen. Predictably, the table was already crowded by Cas, River, Leo and Chevy, who was watching as Hawthorne held Cillian. Shep was nowhere to be found, possibly having a lie in. Theo couldn't blame him, he'd heard the wailing baby in the late hours of the night and early hours of the morning. There was an empty seat beside the other den-guest, who was sitting with excellent posture and had miraculously dressed and styled her hair prior to arriving for breakfast. Before Theo could make a decision about sitting beside her or sitting at the bar, the decision was made for him when Adam slipped past and claimed the seat.

Theo rolled his eyes and moved to the tall stools, pulling a plate of pancakes close.

"How'd you boys sleep?" Alpha asked, keeping an eye on the batter as it bubbled. 

He went to speak but his voice came out a croak. As he went to clear it, Adam answered, "Kind of spotty, to be honest. Can't imagine why…" He threw a meaningful glance at the baby in his father's arms.

"It's not his fault," the girl beside him said, artfully using her knife to cut bite-sized pieces. "He has colic, poor thing."

"No one in our family has had colic before," River said matter-of-factly.

"It's probably those Irish genes," Cas mumbled before stuffing his mouth and looking innocently at his own mother.

Alpha brandished her spatula at him. "Hush! We're all very happy for those Irish genes, I don't see anyone else giving me grandchildren! Another serving, Siobhan?"

Chevy shook her head and sipped her orange juice. "No, thank you Alpha. I'm quite full." she turned back to Hawthorne. "I can take him back, I don't want you to be late for work."

Hawthorne pouted. "Can I bring him?"

"I don't think babies are suited for curse-breaking work, dear," Alpha stated.

"Never know til ya try," her husband shrugged, before surrendering his grandson to Chevy. "I'll be back after dinner, Winnie."

"Travel safe, and come back to me," she replied, and all their children turned away as they kissed goodbye.

"Your parents are so…affectionate," Daphne said to Adam in amazement. "My sister and I barely saw ours hold hands."

Theo swallowed his fourth pancake, considering adding some comment about how he only remembers his parents interacting the day his father killed his mother, but thought that would drastically change the mood of the kitchen.

Following the Fall of the Astronomy Tower, Daphne had been kept in the hospital wing for two weeks in recovery. For the first week nobody, not even her own sister had been allowed to see her. And when visitors were finally permitted in she'd always been asleep, covered in bandages from head to toe. It was only on the second to last day of her recovery period where suddenly she seemed fine, barely a scratch let alone a gaping, mortal wound as Theo and Astoria had been led to believe. He'd wanted details from Madam Pomfrey but she wouldn't budge on the matter, and Daphne hadn't been forthcoming either.

Following Dumbledore's funeral--yes, apparently he'd been found dead in the teacher's lounge the morning after the battle, the story being that he'd fallen asleep and never woken up again. In any case, after the funeral and the students that remained at Hogwarts (many parents or guardians had dragged their children home immediately after the castle was attacked) Adam had asked Theo if he'd like to come to Alaska for the summer. _("I know I said we have a lot of work to do, but first I think it's a good idea if you learn more about my kind of werewolf.")_ Theo hadn't much of an argument or reason to disagree, so he complied. What he didn't know until the three of them were seated in an enchanted shuttle of some kind was that Daphne had been invited along to Alaska as well.

( _"It's not improper, Theodore,"_ Daphne had said when questioned. _"My parents agreed to the arrangement, and Astoria can finally have all the attention for a month or so; everybody wins.")_

Theo had known Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass his entire life, and he knew in his core the last thing they would ever do is allow their daughter to go home with some foreign boy. Why she was lying, he didn't know. And he really didn't like not knowing.

"Mail!" River called, stirring Theo out of his reflections. Somebody had taken his plate away to the sink and the rest were helping to clean up. River handed Theo an envelope with neat writing across it: Theodore Nott, the Quince family residence, Fairbanks Alaska, USA.

He broke the lion seal and scanned the letter written in that same, neat handwriting before reading.

_Dear Theo,_

_I hope this letter finds you safe. I can hardly remember what safe feels like anymore. I know you'll think I was rash but I went ahead and modified my parent's memories. They think their dearest ambition is to explore and live in Australia, and they're packing even as I write to you. I've been invited to stay with the Weasley's and prepare for the upcoming wedding of Bill and Fleur. If it were not for my friendship with Ginny I daresay I wouldn't want to attend, but there's safety in numbers, I suppose. Harry's been distant in his letters, I worry about him most days. I think Dumbledore's death weighs heavier on his shoulders than anyone else's…Did you read that article in the Daily Prophet about Rita Skeeter's new book? I think it's a load of rubbish, like most of the things she writes, but Merlin knows a lot of people will believe anything these days._

_How are you? How is it staying with a family of werewolves in the middle of nowhere? Have you heard from Malfoy? Have you XXXXX_

_Anyway, it sounds like the school will be open again in September. I wonder if they'll fix the Astronomy Tower…be a bit hard to study the stars with all the turrets in the way…I don't know if I'll return this year. If I can, I look forward to seeing you again. If I can't…well, do you want to crash a wedding in a few weeks? Be something to laugh about later, and I'm sure we could all do with a laugh these days. Write soon._

_Sincerely,_

_Hermione_

Theo frowned at the sentence she'd crossed out, believing he knew what she'd wanted to ask but thought better of: ' _Have you heard anything about Lian?_ ' The answer to which was no. Adam believed she was alive, somewhere, sometime, but they had no real proof.

"Ooh, I'd love to crash a wedding." Adam's voice interrupted his thoughts just as River's had, and Theo turned to glare up at him. "What? Oh was I not supposed to read your mail?"

"Who's getting married?" Daphne asked, standing at Theo's other side but pointedly not looking at the letter from Hermione. "Anyone we know?"

"Kind of," Theo replied. "He was in the hospital wing same time as you."

She raised her eyes as she searched her memory. "That Weasley and the French woman? How wonderful for them."

"Right? That's what I'm saying. We should go support them." Adam said with an all too innocent smile.

"Because in these uncertain and dark times what a newlywed couple wants is a couple of gatecrashers with intent to steal the hors d'oeuvres." As Adam nodded eagerly she added in a more serious tone, "No."

"C'mon, Theo was invited! Where he goes I go!"

"Theo's not going to go because he has more sense than that, right?" She turned her cool blue eyes on him for confirmation.

A few years ago, Theo would’ve been on her side but, “I dunno, Daph, I was invited. Rather than crashing you could think of it as my being Hermione’s plus one.”

Adam clapped him on the back, nearly knocking Theo face-first into the counter, fortunately his elbows caught him. “My man!”

Daphne pursed her lips and ignored the taller boy. “Well then, you’d best write her back straight away to confirm you are her date.” Her eyes narrowed as color flushed his neck. “That’s what a plus one _is_ , Theodore.”

“Friends can invite each other places,” Theo mumbled, swiveling on the stool and stepping down. “Lian did it all the time…”

“Hermione’s not Lian. And Lian seems to have a personal mission to avoid romantic love at all costs, so you really oughtn’t compare the two.” Daphne scanned the room for spare parchment and seemed a little surprised when River offered her two fresh rolls, as if he’d been waiting for her to ask. “Oh, thank you Christopher.”

“Anything for you,” River replied smoothly, his eyes round as Daphne turned her back on him and handed one of the scrolls to Theo.

“Go on then,” she said primly. As her back was turned, she did not see the silent argument between brothers as River and Adam scowled at one another. Theo knew River was older but Adam, like in every other instance, dwarfed him by at least six inches. The brothers seemed to be communicating more than anger in their glares, but Theo could only imagine the nature of it. This wasn’t the first time Adam had been protective of Daphne, and it wasn’t in the casually confident way he’d acted around Lian—all arrogant and assured that she would be his. With Daphne, especially around his brothers, he was fierce: like he’d fight to the death to defend her. Theo had a few ideas why that might be, but just as Daphne was vague about her recovery, Adam was cagey about his new behavior.

“Who are you writing?” He asked, nodding at the extra scroll still in her hand.

River, despite being locked in a glare-off with Adam, replied, “To her little sister, of course.”

“I can speak for myself, Christopher,” said Daphne rather curtly. “Join me in the study, Theodore, where I’m sure there’s more privacy.”

She took his wrist and led him out of the kitchen and away from the contentious brothers. Winnie had gone out with the younger brothers some time ago, Chevy had probably taken Cillian down for a nap, and Hawthorne had left for work so the study off the living room was empty. Daphne procured two quills and an ink bottle, setting it down on the desk as she claimed the leather armchair, leaving Theo to claim one of the wibbly-wobbly-wheely chairs in the corner. It squeaked loudly as he sat down. Daphne was already writing out her introduction.

Theo flattened the parchment, dipped the spare quill, and began to write.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Some people might think that what you did to your parents was rash and reckless. I think it’s the most brilliant form of selfless love I’ve ever heard of in this time of uncertainty. So long as they don’t stray too far into Western Australia, sticking to the Muggle settlements, they ought to have the time of their modified lives. If you’ve never been yourself, I recommend the trip. Maybe once all this mess is over with…_

_As for me, I’m surviving thus far. There was a full moon last week and I don’t think I even broke a sweat. Although listening to a baby werewolf—or werepup, as they say around here, was rather like hearing a puppy cry. All I wanted to do was hold it. I did catch a glimpse of him—the baby is Adam’s nephew, Cillian. Transformed he was…fluffy. Farthest thing from wild and feral you’ve ever seen. Anyway, I doubt there’s a safer place for us right now. Daphne’s adjusting well, or taking the environment in her stride. I still don’t know what she hopes to gain by being here. Of course, I haven’t asked. Perhaps I should._

_A Weasley wedding sounds…homey. I’d be honored to accept your invitation, and I promise to keep Adam at bay._

_Draco has yet to reply to any of my letters…_

_And Lian is still missing._

_Best wishes,_

_Theo_

He looked up to find Daphne with her eyes still on her own letter, apparently she’d found another bit of parchment and had started a second page. Even writing, her posture remained correct and her chin barely tilted down as her hand danced the quill gracefully from left to right.

Theo cleared his throat. Daphne glanced at his stationary hands and said, “Finished?” Without pausing in her own writing.

“Yup. Can I ask you something?”

“You just did.” Theo hesitated, frowning at the poor joke. “I’m listening.”

“Why did you come here?”

“Adam invited me.”

“Right, but why?”

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"No, I mean why did you come, regardless of his reasons."

She paused, lifting her quill away from the parchment to avoid ink blots. "I believed it to be my best course of action, given the circumstances."

Theo studied her, glancing at her half-finished letter and back to her face. "Do these circumstances have anything to do with your parents?"

Daphne raised her eyes slowly to meet his, and Theo suspected she considered lying to him again. "I forget how well you know me, sometimes."

"It's not like we were raised together and betrothed by our parents," he said mildly. "Oh wait."

She set the quill down and folded her hands in her lap, sighing deeply. "Well, dearest Astoria let slip to our parents that my attacker had been Greyback," she paused, as if steadying herself for the reality of what she was admitting. "And after what had happened to your mother all those years ago, they were understandably panicked. They tried to bring Tori home early, as you know, promising I'd follow once I was released from the hospital wing… Well, the day I got released, I found my parents frog-marching my sister out the great double doors, forcing her home. When I caught up to them to tell them I just needed to pack and could go with them, my father ignored me. I turned to my mother, who started to cry at the sight of me. I didn't understand why at first, and Tori was shouting at both of them… They wouldn't let me come. I tried to go home after the funeral but I couldn't get past the protection spells. That's when Adam showed up, and offered to give me a place to stay until the dust settled, so to speak. Sure I could've gone to Pansy or Millie but what if their parents had the same fears as mine?" She finished her explanation with a straight face, but her eyes were clouded with tears. She only allowed one to fall, wiping it away before it reached her chin. "Fortunately I can still write to Tori…although I imagine she's been forbidden from writing me back, because as of yet, she has not…"

 _If she's getting your letters at all,_ Theo thought privately. "Did…did Greyback turn you into a werewolf?" Even as he asked he knew it wasn't true. They'd spent the last full moon playing wizards chess in the basement while the rest of the family howled out in the woods.

Daphne shook her head. "No, I just got in his way and he trampled me… all those cuts and breaks and bruises were from his massive claws."

"Tori thought at one point your neck and spine had been broken," Theo said, knowing there was something she was hiding from him still.

"Do I look like I've a broken body?" she challenged, before picking up her quill and returning to her letter.

Theo looked down at the letter he'd written to Hermione, his feelings on 'crashing' a wedding all but diminished. Still, Hermione wasn't the type of person to suggest anything casually, not these days. When last he'd written to her Theo had warned her to protect her parents; the Death Eaters knew she was close with Harry, they'd use any means to get at her. Look what she'd done with that information. He picked up his quill and finished the letter.

_P.S. I've asked Daphne what she's doing here. Her parents rejected her after learning she'd been slashed up by Greyback, much like Bill Weasley. She's fine now, she hasn't been changed or anything. She doesn't even have scars._

_P.P.S. I look forward to hearing from you soon._

He dried the ink with a flick of his wand, rolling up the parchment and sealed it with wax--the desk had such equipment at the ready. He hoped Winnie and Thorn didn't mind Daphne and himself using their wax, but in the last few weeks they hadn't said anything. Perhaps they had yet to notice.

While the wax was still soft, Theo removed his father's ring and pressed the family crest into it, sealing the letter shut. A glance at Daphne saw that she had done the same, only instead of a ring, she had a necklace. It had belonged to her mother when her father had been courting her. It was one of Daphne's treasures, Theo hardly ever saw her without it.

Next came the tricky part. The Quince's did not own an owl, or eagle or falcon or whatever bird passed for as a messenger in those parts of the world. Their family apparently frightened any kind of animal that was not of the canine persuasion and oddly enough Hawthorne was allergic to dogs.

In order to mail their letters, they'd have to go into the wizarding part of Fairbanks, which meant they'd have to walk. Adam always came with them, claiming he needed the exercise but Theo suspected he didn't like the idea of them getting lost or muggled.

All in all, it wasn't a bad summer, it was just different. And still, a part of Theo felt like something bad was on its way. He just couldn't be sure from where or why.

\--

It was almost two weeks later when Theo received Hermione's reply. He opened the letter over his bowl of cereal, handing the apple juice to Cas as he did so. Life in the wolf den had settled into muscle memory, and he could tell by the simplest huff who needed what or was about to demand whichever. Daphne had begun to wake at the crack of dawn to aid Alpha in breakfast preparations, and it even reached a point where the matron could sit and enjoy with her family rather than guard the stove the entire morning.

"Is that a letter from your GIRLFRIEND?" Cas said loudly, reminding Theo to be grateful he had been born an only child.

Chevy reached over and pinched his ear. "Leave him alone and say thank you, yeh wee little rascal."

"It's fine," Theo said as Cas howled in pain.

"No, it's not," Alpha said from the head of the table. "He's been taught better, and Theo if you let him have this one he'll never truly respect you. Stand up for yourself."

"Yeah Theo," Leo echoed from directly opposite him. "Love yourself!"

Daphne, who was scrambling more eggs, covered her mouth to hide a giggle. Adam walked over to Theo, holding little Cillian in his arms, who was fast asleep. He'd taken up a nasty habit of crying his throat raw unless his uncle or mother was holding him, and Chevy needed a break. "What's it say?"

"If you would all mind your own business I might be able to find out," Theo spoke without thinking, and immediately looked to Alpha out of fear. Her piercing blue eyes razed him for a few seconds before she returned to her coffee. "Sorry," he mumbled, turning his eyes to the letter at last.

_Dear Theo,_

_I have so much to say and not a lot of time to say it. Mrs. Weasley has us cleaning the house inside-out-and-backwards. The wedding only takes place next week on the 1st of August but you'd think we were about to host the whole of the Wizengamot or something. Your last letter puzzled me somewhat and I'm hoping you can help me clear things up. You said Daphne Greengrass had been attacked by Greyback but doesn't bear any scars? That can't be true, you see, because wounds from a werewolf's claw or fang never heal properly. Look at Professor Lupin, or even Bill Weasley. I've enclosed an invitation in the envelope and you can see his marred face for yourself. Mrs. Weasley was beside herself when she first laid eyes on him after the battle… Do you have any idea how Madam Pomfrey fixed her up, or maybe why she didn't use the same method on Bill? Honestly, if I could ask her in person, maybe it would be the quickest way to uncover the truth. Do you think it'd be too much to ask her to come with you?_

_There's more I wanted to say but I'm being summoned to de-gnome the garden again._

_See you (and hopefully Daphne) next Friday!_

_Hermione_

_P.S. Don't forget to wear dress robes._

_P.P.S. Sorry, I forgot to whom I was writing. You know what to wear._

Theo read and reread the neat handwriting, puzzled by the questions posed in there as much as the witch who had sent them. He glanced over the parchment at Daphne, who had cooked the last of the eggs and bacon and was busying herself by organizing the pans to scrub themselves with a few complicated motions with her wand. She'd spent a few days studying household spells when she'd learned the hard way that the Quince's did not own a single house-elf. She was wearing a modest sundress, and a quick scan over her arms, neck and legs from the knees down confirmed to Theo that she didn't have a single scratch, let alone a lasting battle scar. He took out the invitation and frowned at the picture of Bill Weasley and his bride-to-be, smiling up at him. Bill bore two long gashes across his left cheek, a third through his brow, and another few scratches on the other side of his face. He was dressed in robes, but Theo could only imagine where else he'd been wounded. It didn't make sense. Bill and Daphne had been attacked by the same werewolf, had been kept in the hospital wing for quite some time, bandaged and curtained off from the rest of the room. Then suddenly, almost overnight, she was fine and he still looked like he'd operated the wrong end of a wood chipper. If Daphne wouldn't talk about it, maybe there was someone else who might help him solve the mystery.

"Alpha?" he began, folding up the letter and stowing it in his pocket. "Can I ask you something?"

She looked up from the New York Ghost and gave an encouraging smile. "Of course."

"Born werewolves don't bite unless its their last defense, right?"

The seriousness of his tone made every wolf in the kitchen sit up a little straighter. Except Cillian, who gassed in his sleep. Adam was frowning at the invitation Theo was holding, glancing at his face every other second. Winnifred gazed evenly back at him, her expression neutral but her blue eyes dark. "Yes. To act like a common wolf is forbidden; our kind know and must be better."

"Right. But do you know if a werewolf's bite has other side effects?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Why do you ask? Were you injured by one of us this past moon?"

Theo shook his head quickly. "No, I just wondered because of this-" He handed her the picture of Bill and his fiancé. She quirked a single eyebrow but made no comment, aware that he hadn't finished his explanation. "This is Bill; he was there for the Battle Under the Astronomy Tower, and he was attacked by the werewolf, Greyback."

"He was bitten?" Shepherd had moved to look over his Alpha's shoulder.

"No, just scratched, but his scars will never heal properly, correct?" Theo had to be precise. He would normally be opposed to a public discussion about this but he knew Daphne would take whatever she was hiding to the grave. And after all that Lian had put him through, he was done with secrets.

"Yes, he'll bear those marks for the rest of his life," Winnie nodded slowly. "You knew this already, why bring it up?"

Theo glanced over at Daphne, who was standing quite still, eyes wide. Their gazes locked and for the briefest moment she shook her head at him. _Sorry._ "Because Daphne was attacked by Greyback the very same night. And I wondered if there was some reason she survived without even a single scrape to show for it?"

Alpha and Shepherd looked over at Daphne, who had continued to organize the dishes into washing and drying themselves. She was taking care to avoid making eye contact with anyone. Shep kept an eye on her whilst Winnie turned a piercing stare on her tallest son. Theo didn't quite understand what was happening, but their behavior indicated that they at least had an answer to his question. Leo and Cas looked confused, but Adam seemed very interested in Cillian. His Alpha gave a low growl and reluctantly he raised his eyes to meet hers.

"Siobhan, take the baby down into the dens. Boys, outside." Alpha commanded, waiting while her orders were carried out. Chevy retrieved her pup and withdrew downstairs while Leo pushed a protesting Cas outside.

"But I wanna see--Adam hasn't been in trouble in forever!"

"He's not in trouble, he's dead." Leo shut the back door, leaving the five of them in the now very quiet kitchen. Theo sat upright in his chair, unsure of where he was supposed to look. He settled on Alpha, who had not broken eye contact with Adam. In the silence that followed, he wondered if he had been included in the command to go outside.

At last, Alpha spoke again, absolving his thoughts as he listened. Her voice was calm, but Theo knew it contained a storm. "What have you done?"

Adam cleared his throat. "I did what I thought was necessary-"

"What. Have you done?" Alpha repeated, her voice slightly raised.

"You'd have done the same had you been in my position," Adam held her gaze, despite his obvious fear.

"What have you done?!" the snarl was evident now, though her expression was still calm, almost cold.

Theo chanced a glance at Daphne and was a little alarmed to see Shepherd inspecting her up close as though he expected her to explode at any second. She had a dish towel in her hands, and kept her eyes resolutely on the window. He looked back as Adam answered. "She was dying--her wounds were far worse than Bill's--it was a long shot but I had to try-"

"Answer me!" Alpha demanded, her eyes flashing.

"He saved my life," Daphne spoke from the counter, even while Shepherd inspected her scent. "Please don't be angry with him, Mrs. Quince."

Theo felt his blood grow cold as Alpha turned her head sharply to glare at Daphne, who stood her ground. Adam went to move but froze when Winnie turned back to him. Shepherd seemed to have discovered something, judging on his expression, but he made no effort to speak. He simply stood by, waiting for the ordeal to finish. Theo wished he could feel as at ease in the current climate. He rather felt his stomach and heart had panicked and switched places. Winnie spoke a single word to cut the tension. "Explain."

Adam sighed. "Bill was recovering, but Daphne wasn't. She wasn't responding to any of the spells, or potions offered and provided by the school healer, and I knew the scratches were deeper and fatal. The healer had just about given up when…" he hesitated, glancing around as if for an escape. Finding none, he continued. "I didn't think it would work, but I had to try. As a born werewolf I've always healed faster than a regular wizard… I suspected that there was an element in our blood that allowed for the supernatural differences… So, I took a sampling and brought it to the matron, explaining my theory… Using my blood I engineered a type of replenishing potion that we then administered to Daphne. The next morning her wounds had resealed and faded. I was relieved that she was alright, but also terrified that I'd inadvertently turned her…"

"So you brought her here, for the next full moon," Alpha finished shrewdly. "And she did not turn, so you feel justified in your actions. Yet still, you both felt the need to hide the truth."

"Given your reaction, can you honestly blame us?" Daphne said in a hushed but skeptical manner.

"Theodore and Daphne, kindly leave this room. I must speak with my son in private." Alpha's tone left no room for loopholes, so Theo crossed the kitchen and met Daphne at the back door. They found Cas and Leo lingering near the keyhole, and both boys stared at Daphne in much the same way as their older brother had; rather appalled, and slightly apprehensive. Theo made a shooing gesture at the pair of them before turning to Daphne, only to find her invading his personal space. She'd stood on tip toe to gaze directly into his eye with her own frosty stare. "Why did you have to say anything? Why not take the hint and let sleeping dogs lie?" She turned away so suddenly Theo was not fast enough to dodge her hair, which slapped across his face. He followed her angry march into the woods, Leo not far behind while Cas returned to the keyhole to listen in on the kitchen.

"Daphne! Stop this! I tried asking you but you dodged the issue at every turn! Hermione's letter mentioned-"

"Ugh! I should've known Granger had something to do with this!" Daphne halted and turned to face him again and Theo nearly stumbled into her. "What did little miss-know-it-all have to say? Hm? You know how strict Adam's mother is! We would've told you eventually just not under her roof!"

"You should've told me right off! I know when someone is keeping secrets-"

Daphne scoffed. "Lian lied to you all the time, and you never seemed to care. Or does she get a pass because you fancied her?"

"That's not fair!" Theo snapped, startling her. "Lian was manipulating me for over a year, using my feelings to her advantage-! You and I were close friends once, it's not like you to hide things from me nor I you! You used to be the only one who knew the truth of what happened to my mother and the only one I could turn to for help. I knew you were hiding something big from me and it was driving me mad, as you must've known it would!"

"Adam made me swear not to speak of it! Not until we were sure. You can't be angry with me for keeping my word but I can be upset with you for throwing me under the bus!"

"If you'd have included me from the start none of this would've happened!"

"Uh guys?" Leo coughed, interrupting their shouting match. He pointed back towards the cabin, where we could see Cas running towards us, his hazel eyes wide even at a distance. "You might have to finish this later."

"I'm finished now," Daphne sniffed, straightening her posture and returning to her proper, delicate façade.

Cas skidded to a stop beside his brother, panting more out of anxiety than exhaustion. "Alpha…she…"

"Did she ground him?" Leo asked half-sarcastic, half-concerned.

Cas shook his head. "He's out."

"Knocked out?" Theo asked, wondering how hard it would be to make Adam fall unconscious. He could still remember the days at Hogwarts where he'd had vivid daydreams about doing just that. Such ideas usually resulted in dropping a suit of armor or gargoyle on the unsuspecting werewolf.

"Out of the house?" Daphne suggested as Cas continued to shake his head while catching his breath.

"Out." Leo repeated, feeling the word out as though he'd never used it before. A dawning expression of shock crossed his face and he shook Cas by his shoulders. "Out!? Cas! You don't mean-!?"

Cas nodded vigorously, and for the first time Theo noticed his eyes were wet. "She wasn't going to at first but then Shep said…and Alpha…she kicked him out. He's got minutes to gather his stuff but…but-!"

"What's he talking about?" Daphne asked Leo, who had gone very white.

He gulped. "Alpha kicked him out of the pack. He won't be welcome at home anymore."

Cas sniffed and pointed at Daphne. "Same goes for her. Alpha never wants to see her again. Called her an abominable."

"Abomination," Leo corrected, bowing his head apologetically to Daphne. "You'd better go."

"Why? Adam didn't do anything wrong, he helped me!"

"He broke our laws," Shepherd had approached them without anyone noticing. Theo supposed being the oldest of ten siblings granted him a certain amount of skill. "Of course you wouldn't understand, you're relatively innocent in all this. But you'll be safer away from here." He held out her trunk, the only thing she'd brought along. Apparently he'd taken the initiative and packed her things for her. "You must never return."

Daphne took her trunk, the glint in her eyes told Theo she was tempted to swing it at Shep, but she resisted. "If your kind has laws against helping people, maybe it's time to think about changing."

"Perhaps, but it is not for an outsider to say. And certainly not from one as ignorant as you." Shep dismissed her by turning to Theo. "You could stay, if you wish. Alpha still harbors a maternal instinct and no ill will for you, but I suspect you'll be on your way as well."

Theo nodded absently, distracted by the cabin door closing behind Adam as he crossed the grass and the underbrush. He carried Theodore's bag with him, and a rucksack slung across his chest. His hazel eyes were dark but his expression was set in determination. Theo took his bag and glanced between Adam and Daphne, well aware that this sudden departure was on his head. There was really only one thing he could do.

Bowing his head respectfully to Shepherd and the other two, he followed his friends to the edge of the Quince's land, where the anti-disapparation charms would no longer be in effect. "You're both welcome to stay at my place."

"I should very well think so," Daphne said haughtily.

Adam didn't respond other than a simple nod. He had no idea where Theo lived so when they reached the perimeter, he offered the taller boy his arm, or more accurately, his shoulder. The heavy hand that gripped his shirt trembled slightly. Theo pretended not to notice, remembering well all the times Adam had kept his silence when it was Theo who had been embarrassed or vulnerable. Daphne turned on the spot and with a deafening CRACK she had gone. Theo seized the chance to speak, while they were alone. "I'm sorry. I didn't know, I didn't intend it to turn out this way…"

Adam allowed the silence to stretch way beyond Theo's comfort level before he answered. "You only brought the truth to light, which was bound to happen eventually. You did what I couldn't bring myself to do. If I feel anger later on, which surely will happen, it will be directed at myself."

"Do you regret any of it?" Theo asked quietly. This he could never have said in front of Daphne, as her continued life was directly tied to said actions.

"Of course not."

Theo nodded, before turning on the spot and disapparated with Adam alongside him.


	3. Put Me Back Where I Came From

_July 1997_

"Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice," Amaya said, breaking the long silence that had fallen over the office. The older woman seated opposite herself and David frowned over her spectacles at the pair of them. Amaya's gratitude did not compensate for the fact that 'short notice' had been nothing more than literally marching on the castle and engaging in an argument with the gargoyle standing in the way of the Headmistress's office. Amaya's native accent echoed in her private thoughts as she recalled some of the crass phrases she'd used to illustrate her displeasure.

"Of course," Professor McGonagall replied curtly. "To what do I owe the, err, _pleasure_?"

Some of her inner fire rekindled and Amaya whipped out the letter she'd received not two days earlier. "I received word from _your_ Minister that our daughter is dead! I demand a proper explanation as to why he could have been led to such an error in judgement. Where is my daughter?"

"I understand your frustration, Mrs. Strother-Kowalski, but I'm afraid Scrimgeour has told you the truth. The Death Eaters, that is to say, a group that practices dark magic and follows a man called Lord-"

"I know what a Death Eater is," Amaya snapped. "I was briefly engaged to one."

McGonagall raised a single eyebrow and continued. "Death Eaters invaded the castle with aims to assassinate our previous Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. According to eye-witness accounts, including my own, Ms. Kowalski first engaged with the Death Eaters out in the forbidden forest. She tried to hold them off on her own, exhausting herself and fell into their hands as a hostage. They then used the Imperius Curse on her, forcing her to fight anyone who tried to attack the Death Eaters. Ms. Kowalski then fought off the effects of the Imperius Curse and began to fight back from where she'd been standing at the base of the Astronomy Tower. Before the Death Eaters tried to escape, one of them caused a distraction by collapsing said tower, while Ms. Kowalski and a Death Eater (by the name of Thorfinn Rowle,) remained beneath and inside it as the whole of the tower crumbled and fell to the castle grounds. I'm sure you saw the efforts to rebuild it on your approach…Afterwards we found Rowle's broken and mangled corpse, but while we were unable to unearth Lian's body there is no way she could have survived the fall. You can't apparate within the Hogwarts grounds, either. I'm terribly sorry for your-"

"If you say you're sorry for our loss I'll burn your desk to a crisp," Amaya said, her voice steady but her eyes cold. "I would like to see the remaining rubble."

McGonagall winced. "As I have already said, we are in the midst of repairs. The rubble, as you put it, has since been…"

"Been what?" David asked evenly, a slight edge to his voice.

"Vanished." McGonagall raised her voice to drown Amaya's indignation and fury. "I assure you, we were quite certain it was only rock and broken stone before banishing it. I say again, your daughter is nowhere to be found."

Amaya stiffened at the woman's choice of words. It brought up a rush of memories from thirteen years ago, when Oliver had been declared missing. The auror's reports all came out the same: _your son is nowhere to be found._ Not dead, per se, but untraceable. She released a long exhale, her eyes gazing at the desk as she tried to see the connection, the hidden clue that was staring at her in the face. "Thank you for your time, Headmistress. My husband and I will see ourselves out." She rose gracefully from her chair, David a fraction of a second behind her, and together they turned and went to leave the office. Before they could exit however, Amaya lingering at the door frame as David held it open for her, McGonagall had one more thing to say.

"I truly am sorry, Mrs. and Mr. Kowalski. Lian was a gifted young girl. All who knew her shall mourn her passing."

Amaya nodded mutely, and pressed on down the spiral staircase, past the gargoyle who huffed angrily at the sight of her, and on out through the great double doors of the castle. When she and David were alone, crossing the grass in relative silence, only then did she speak. "Lian _is_ a gifted girl, and she's alive. I can feel it."

"Glad it's not just me," David replied, his voice light but his expression dark. "Still, I should've tried harder to make her return to Ilvermorny."

"There's no use dwelling on that now," said Amaya, taking a final glance back at Hogwarts castle. "We can't change the past. All we can do now is keep an ear to ground, and wait for the merest hint that she's alive and still fighting."

David inhaled sharply. "Fighting?"

She smiled up at her husband, squeezing his hand. "Oh, you know Lian. She's always ready for a fight."

* * *

_Somewhere in the English countryside, sometime during the summer of 1975:_

His arm extended, but Roman hesitated in giving me the hourglass. “What happens if you touch it?”

“I normally kept it on my person when I travelled in time before, and when my turn was up I’d just pop back to where I left...but like I said before I’ve never been away this long, so I haven’t a clue when I’ll turn up...but so long as it's within a month or so of my leaving, it should be okay.” I tried to sound optimistic. I stared at his cheekbone until he turned his head to meet my eyes. Magic was so strange, I had been convinced my brother had blue eyes, like our dad and Jacob, but the eyes that bored into mine now were a clear silver. I wondered if they’d changed to reflect Alphard’s, some more of his premature magic acting up when he’d first been found. He was tall like Dad though, and had Mom’s dark hair. It had texture, not quite curly, not quite straight--just like mine. His hair was long, past his shoulders when down though he usually kept it tied back… _Hmm, I’m going to have to chop it when I get a chance._

“What?”

 _Did he hear that? I could’ve sworn I’d replaced my barriers._ “Nothing...just trying to memorize what you look like...because if I see Mom before you do, I’ll have to tell her everything.” Okay, bringing out the Mom card might’ve been a little harsh, but he was denying the chance to return home on the notion of finding an answer that I hadn’t even considered chasing in all the time I’d been trying to just find him, to save him. I could feel a heat building behind my eyes but I wasn’t about to break down, not yet. I couldn’t leave without having a final word.

I lowered my mental walls to connect with him, because I didn’t trust that my voice wouldn’t shake. _Roman._ He was never Pollux, and he was no longer my Ollie…Roman was the name that suited him best. _When next I meet you, you’d better have all the answers you said you’d look for...and as a head’s up...the next time you meet me, I won’t have a clue who you are. It’s important that you don’t tell me, okay? Only if we have the mental connection are you allowed to treat me like family. Remember that, and the timeline should remain intact. Just...try to survive. You owe your younger siblings a Star Wars marathon, and we’ll never let you forget it._

I could feel my emotions rising inside me, but refused to let a single one dictate my expression. Rather than let the last thing my brother take away from his meeting me be a turbulent mess, I tackled him in a bone-crushing embrace. I raised my barriers so he couldn’t hear or sense the roller coaster my heart was taking my brain on, my primary focus was giving him a hug he wouldn’t soon forget. My secondary focus was lifting the silver hourglass out of his hand, the Artful-Dodger style, and it was seconds before I felt the tell-tale-tug around my navel. Suddenly I didn’t want to leave him. I had a mad desire to stay in the 70’s and help him find his answers, find the Blood-Turner from this time and that way we could go home toge--

There was a soft pop. And my brother’s hug, his mind, and his scent all vanished as I spun forward through time.

My arms were still in a hugging position when I arrived at my destination. Whether I expected to see the walls of Hogwarts, the interior of the Hogwarts Express, or the enchanted window of my loft, I never expected to see two boys standing on the edge of a cliff with an old house elf as the wind made my hair attack my face. Over the crash of the ocean waves far below I could barely hear the conversation happening feet from where I’d landed.

“I see. So it’s only the start for you.”

“Start of what?”

“You’ll figure it out. I’ll see you soon, Roman, at least I hope.”

I gave a start, my hands flying up to shove my hair back to see the two boys clearly. I vaguely recognized the one facing me so that had to mean the one with his back to me was-! I was sprinting forward. The other boy spotted me and shoved something gold into the inner pocket of his robes. “Who is that?!”

His name was ready to springboard off my tongue when there was a soft pop and Roman had vanished, leaving me to stumble around the house elf and nearly knock the other boy into the sea. I instinctively grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the edge, hearing my voice gasp out a rushed, “Sorry!”

He pulled me along with him, letting me go only when he was certain that I was steady on my own feet. “I nearly saw my life flash before my eyes for a moment there. Are you alright?”

That was a weird question from the guy I nearly put to death. Then again, it was my body that was trembling, not his. At least I knew Roman had the Blood-Turner now...but to have him ripped from me twice in the span of a minute felt wholly unnecessary and downright cruel. “I’ll live, maybe. I normally wouldn’t ask but you seem unphased by time travel so could you tell me what year it is?”

He inclined his head, I think he was trying to acknowledge my shock. “1979. It’s also August, if that helps.”

I felt my stomach drop, simultaneous with my jaw. “Only four years?”

Comprehension dawned on the boy’s face. “You’re Julianne. Why are you here?”

“I-I don’t--wait,” I squinted up into his face. He wasn’t that much taller than me, my eyes were about level with his collar. “Roman told you about me?” _After I expressly told him not to tell anyone?!_

The boy nodded. “About you, about how he and you were born early this summer and he was taken backwards in time, how he’s secretly American and was legally and magically adopted into my family to replace my cousin Pollux after my mother had him killed, yeah.”

I blinked several times, trying to swallow that influx of information. “Your mother? Wait, you’re not-”

“Serious? Yes and no. I am being quite blunt with you, but I’m not Sirius, I’m Regulus.”

I gave a hollow laugh despite myself. Then I remembered his question. “Well, Regulus, I don’t know why I’m here, wherever ‘here’ is,” I paused to glance around the deserted place. I looked down at the house elf and gasped, “Kreacher!”

The old elf glared up at me. “You is not a member of the noble house of Black. You almost killed master Regulus. Kreacher would have sent you to face the wrath of my mistress, had any harm come to him, ooh yes.”

“Kreacher, you can trust her.” Regulus said confidently, before adding a command, “Go on home, I’ll be along shortly. Oh, and hide this in a safe place, please.” He withdrew the gold thing from his pocket, the one he’d tried to hide from my eyes, though I now saw that it was a locket and chain. Kreacher took it in his hands with reverence, gave me a final look full of skepticism, and with a loud CRACK he was gone.

“How do you know you can trust me?” 

“Call it a feeling,” he replied with a shrug. “What do you need to do?”

Frowning, I tilted my head to the side. “Pardon?”

“Crow brought you here, I assume there’s a reason? I can help.”

“I don’t-” I shook my head, trying to clear it. “No one brought me--it was the Blood-Turner.”

“You don’t know about Crow?” Regulus looked as baffled as I felt. “Hasn’t he spoken to you, yet? He talked to Roman all the time.”

“Well then he’d be about 40 years old or more by the time I came around and would have very little interest in me so-” I couldn’t even begin to imagine how many people Roman had blabbed to about the hourglass. THIS was why I should’ve stayed with him! The future had to be an absolute pit of chaos now that my idiot brother had screwed the timeline…

“Actually I think Crow is well into his hundred thousands by now so age wouldn’t stop him from talking to you,” Regulus’s words broke into my breakdown and effectively put it on pause, for now.

“...what?”

“Crow,” Regulus repeated, reaching for my hand that held the hourglass. I went to back away from him but he caught my wrist faster than I’d have expected. “Is right-”

A tug around my navel interrupted him, and I was off, spinning through time again, only this time I had a passenger.

The next time my feet hit solid ground, it was covered in snow and ice. The wind roared in my ears and set my teeth to chattering with its chill. I slipped and nearly fell, but Regulus was still holding my wrist and he pulled me up. We were face to face and I didn't like that one bit. I struggled with his grip. "Let me go!"

He gazed into my eyes for a fraction of a second before replying, "Okay." And then he let me go.

I fell flat on my face and slid backwards at an alarming rate. I registered that we'd landed on a frozen incline and I had the misfortune of not having a firm foothold, whereas Regulus apparently had. I used my steel arm to claw at the slippery ground, holding the hourglass close to my heart to try and protect it. My hopes of stopping my frozen slide quickly vanished when my feet crashed into a tree. Rather than stopping me, the blow flipped my body so I fell head first instead. It took longer than I care to admit for me to remember something very important. I'm a witch.

The hourglass swapped hands as I withdrew my pine wand. _Arresto momentum!_ Instantly my fall went from 30mph to about 2mph. I rolled to my side and onto my feet, wincing as I realized one or both ankles had been sprained. This resulted to me falling back on my butt, sighing loudly in frustration. Something was dripping out my nose and I was about 82% certain it was blood. There was an 18% chance it was my dignity. Tapping my swollen ankles I used a number of healing charms, hoping one of them would work. I hadn't taken a great deal of healing classes back at Ilvermorny, they'd been saved for the Pukwudgie's and Wampus students, but I'd gleaned the basics from my brother and Vera. After I was convinced they'd been fixed, I wiped my nose and carefully rose to my feet again. I had found the bottom of the mountain. I glanced back up the incline, barely able to see the top, but I did see the dark shadow that was Regulus, surfing down as cool and calm as though he followed strange girls down snowy mountains everyday. When he was close I opened my mouth to warn him about saying anything about what had just occurred, but he beat me to it.

"You didn't scream."

"Excuse me?"

He raised his eyebrows a fraction as he explained, "Well, not that I make it a habit of dropping people down a mountainside, but you'd normally expect a person to make much more noise when they fall so far and break both ankles and their nose. You didn't. You simply solved the issues and you stand there as if nothing happened." He withdrew his wand and waved it over me, and I felt my nose snap back into place as well as a rush of warmth through my bones and clothes. "Make no mistake, it was still a foolish move. I can trust you, why can't you trust me?"

"Does that really matter now?" I asked, gesturing around at the cold and forbidding scenery. "We're stuck out here, and I have no idea where or when we are."

"Just use the hourglass," he replied, as though it was obvious.

I clenched my teeth, struggled between yelling and hexing for a moment before I released all my anger out with a sigh. "Should I? It's not like it goes where I want."

"Of course not, because you're just along for the ride." Regulus held out his palm, and I was a little alarmed to see his hands were paler than life. He was freezing, yet he stood patiently and conversed like he had nothing better to do. "But any place is better than this, wouldn't you agree?"

I opened my steel hand, frowning down at the silver time-turner, _Blood-Turner_. "What if we end up inside an active volcano or something?"

Regulus sniffed or snorted, it was difficult to tell. "There's a chance, but I doubt it. Come on, before we both catch our deaths out here."

It was difficult to argue with his logic, though I'm sure if I tried I could've found a way. I pricked my thumb on the needle before taking his hand. A moment later and the old tug around my navel sent the both of us sailing through time again.

The next thing I knew we were standing in some kind of unpleasant smelling muck, mixed with hay and feathers. I could hear a cow groaning close by, and as I looked around to take in the shabby-looking hovel and poor excuse for a barn, my eyes landed on a woman dressed in something out of one of my sister's fairytale books. A brown smock and a worn grey shawl, covering equally grey hair that stuck out in odd places. She was brandishing a pitchfork, her entire frame quaking as she stared open-mouthed at the two strangers that had just appeared outside her chicken coop.

I heard Regulus mutter something to the effect of, "Oh dear."

I cleared my throat and went to say something, or use a memory charm or something but I was a second too late. The woman charged with her pitchfork pointed for our hearts. "SORCERY!!"

I pricked my thumb again, wanting to get out of the Princess Bride ASAP, but nothing happened and she was still coming at us. Regulus raised his wand in a sweeping motion, and the woman collapsed in a heap in the mud. I looked up at him in shock.   
"Did you kill her??"

"No, but she will have a dreadful headache when she wakes." He walked around her and went into her hovel, and after a moment's hesitation, I followed him. There was very little to speak of inside, just a small bed in the corner and a trunk at its foot. There was no table or place to sit. I briefly wondered how such a poor woman could afford so many animals, but then I reminded myself I had bigger things to worry about.

"I can't help but think we would've been better off on that mountain," I said, watching as Regulus peeked inside the chest, shut it and turned back to me.

"Because we were alone? At least here we have a chance," he began, and I could hear his reason but I had no idea where he was getting it from.

"I don't know how much you paid attention to Professor Binns but unless I'm mistaken," I noticed that he'd straightened slightly at the mention of the ghost professor but I kept going. "We're in the dark ages. In summary, our kind was driven into hiding while literally every No-Maj was on a mission to burn them, drown them, whatever worked."

"We're not here forever," Regulus replied calmly. "Just until Crow sends us back."

"Who is Crow!?" I snapped.

"The hourglass," he stated. "And there's no need to shout, Julianne."

I looked from him to the blood-turner incredulously. "You mean to tell me my brother _named_ this thing?"

"You mean to tell me in all this time it's been in your possession--he's never spoken to you?"

I held it up to him. "It's an hourglass! It doesn't have a consciousness. It's a tool not unlike a broomstick. It's just…faulty."

"Faulty?" he repeated. "Faulty? You really have no idea what you're dealing with, do you."

"Are you saying I'm stupid?"

"That's not-"

"Oy!" I jumped and whirled on the spot. A grubby old man with a scruffy beard and tufts growing in odd places all over his head was standing over the fallen figure of the woman, picking up the pitchfork where it had fallen. "Thieves! Get off my property, afore's I run you through!"

"We're not thieves," Regulus said from behind me. "We're just passing through. Your wife collapsed and we were looking for medicine to help her."

Not the cover story I would've gone with, but it'll do. The man squinted at us then down at the woman. "Wife? This dozy lump ain't my wife. Yeh think I couldn't do better than this old hag?!"

A quick glimpse in his mind revealed that the woman was in fact his wife but he also was suffering some kind of dementia and nothing we said would convince him we weren't there to steal the cow or whatever. I raised my wand and put him to sleep. Like his dearly beloved, he fell into the mud with a squelch.

"Maybe we should move on before their children turn up," I suggested, scanning the edges of the farm just in case there was an ambush in the works.

In my peripheral I saw Regulus nod. "Excellent idea, you lead."

I rolled my eyes and set off through the woods. At least this place was experiencing a late summer rather than a bleak midwinter. We walked for about an hour before we hit a large lake, its surface as still and reflective as a mirror. As I moved to wash my shoes, Regulus seized my shoulder and pulled me back.

"What now?" I asked, eager to hear him scold my sense of direction or whatever he had planned.

"I wouldn't touch the water if I were you," came his quiet reply. "The last time I saw water like that it concealed an army of the dead."

"Lovely. I'll just use grass, then." He had a point, the water was unnatural in appearance, especially when I spotted a river flowing into it. The river was rushing and splashing but the lake hadn't a hint of a wave or the merest ripple. I settled on a large rock and proceeded to scrape the gunk off the soles of my shoes, glancing around in case anything else was going to surprise us. "Where do you think we are?”

“England, or what will be England one day,” Regulus stated, his back against an oak tree as he kept an eye on the way we’d come.

“Obviously. Any specific idea as to where in England?”

“Nope.”

A stretch of silence fell, but I was burning with questions. I really just wanted to look into his mind but I was hesitant in case I learned yet another thing I didn’t need. When I could stand the quiet no longer I said, “So…tell me about this Crow person.”

Hearing my skepticism, Regulus replied, “I will when you’re willing to believe he’s real.”

“It’s not that I’m unwilling per se,” I looked over at him, a little startled to find his silver eyes scanning me. “I just thought if there was a consciousness residing in the hourglass I’d have heard it by now.”

“Really? You don’t strike me as an open-minded person.”

My mouth fell open in indignation. “I beg your pardon—I am the most open of minds.” But before I could say more a thought occurred to me. I had been practicing Occlumency long before I’d even touched the Blood-Turner. But, I’d told Roman to use Occlumency as well…of course it had been more of an afterthought than a lesson…and there had been that groaning that had plagued my brain for weeks until I started drinking the draught of peace on the regular… Was it possible?

Apparently sensing the change in my attitude, Regulus began to speak. “He wasn’t a person, least not far as I could see. Suddenly Roman knew and did things he had no business knowing or doing. I could never quite figure it out until he came to me last year and revealed the whole thing. I already knew he was adopted, but the American from the future angle I never would’ve guessed, nor the ancient deity taking residence in his head.”

I waited for him to say ‘just kidding’. “Wait, what?”

“Crow is the god of Time, transfigured into the shape of an hourglass. You’ve been using a god to traverse time.” He said this clearly and calmly, as though it was as normal as saying, ‘My favorite color is green.’ He whole-heartedly believed what he was saying…which could only mean one thing.

“You’re crazy.” I stood and walked a few paces along the edge of the lake, careful not to disturb the water. “I don’t know what you hope to gain by telling me all this but it’s impossible.”

“I stand to gain nothing expect a way back home,” Regulus shrugged. “I’ve only just met you, why would I lie?” I grimaced at that but did not answer. I lied to people all the time, it was usually my best defense. "See, I knew you wouldn't believe me. You're as stubborn as Sirius."

"Does he know Roman's from the future too?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer. "Did my brother announce it at the first family gathering once he knew?"

"No, he only ever told two people: myself and Allura."

I came to a halt at the new name. "Who's Allura?"

"She's his ex-wife."

I shut my eyes as if that would make it untrue. "What happened between them?"

"Pardon?"

My eyes opened and I frowned over at Regulus. " _Ex-wife_ ," I repeated pointedly. "Did she divorce him because of the truth?"

"No, she married him in spite of the truth," he replied, examining his wand before polishing it. "She left him because she was pregnant."

I marched over to him, determined to have his full attention. _Is he about to tell me I have a niece??_ "So? Wouldn't that be a reason to stay?"

"The baby was a result of an assault, not from her marriage to Roman," he answered, finally meeting my gaze. "She didn't tell me this of course, but I believe that to be the only reason she'd have left him. It was while he was off traveling through time as well, she was long gone when he came back."

Now it was my turn to lower my eyes, taking a moment to feel for my brother. If he had loved someone enough to marry them, despite knowing his fate…her departure must've broken him. I'd seen my brother two hours ago, but I already wanted to hold him in my arms again. I had to find a way back to my own time. He was probably waiting for me there.

I withdrew the hourglass from where it hung from a chain around my neck. It was impossible. Gods were mythic beings from ancient times when No-Majs needed explanations for the various wonders of the world, including but not limited to magic. There had to be another explanation. Maybe Roman had invented the story as a way for those closest to him to believe the story…But why tell anyone at all? I glanced up at Regulus again, who was watching me think, his eyes darting between my face and the hourglass. He thought he was telling the truth, but that didn't mean much to me.

I tried pricking my finger again, but still nothing happened. Maybe it just needed to recharge…

Sounds of marching feet crashing through the underbrush and grass prompted me to hide the blood-turner beneath my collar again. Regulus and I cautiously peered around the oak's trunk, and I spotted the men in chainmail. There were four in total, each one wore a red cloak with a gold dragon on their left shoulder, broadswords at their belts. I rolled back against the trunk to hide, tapping Regulus on the arm to indicate he should do likewise. "Shall we move on again?"

"If we move now they'd spot us."

"Yes, but if we don't do any magic they won't have a reason to stop us."

"Unless we're somehow trespassing, then they'd be well within their rights to do exactly that."

"If we're trespassing we won't help our case by hiding behind this tree."

"We could disillusion ourselves and stay quiet til they pass by."

"Or we could disapparate and leave them in confusion but still having no clue as to our identities while we try to safely get this damned thing working again."

"It works when Crow decides, not you."

"Crow is not real!"

"Who goes there?" A deep voice interrupted our dispute, and I cursed under my breath. "Come out!"

I stepped out from the tree, Regulus doing the same on the opposite side. The men had formed a semi-circle, hands on the hilts of their swords but no one was pointing anything, yet. The one in the center, a man with curly brown hair and facial hair, spoke again. "Who are you? What are you doing on the King's land?"

I figured it was my turn to have at a cover story. "We're part of a travelling entertainment group, but we've been separated from our caravan."

One of the men nearest to where I stood said, "That explains your strange apparel."

The first spoke again. "The troupe that passed this way not this very morning?"

 _Of course they did_ , "Yes, the very same!"

"Then let us escort you to the citadel," the man smiled. "I am Sir Leon. What do you call yourselves?"

"I'm Seraphina," I blurted the first name that popped into my head. _Sorry sis._ "And this is my brother, John."

"Come," Sir Leon gestured with his head, the other three circling round us, urging us to walk with them. "We must make haste if we are to return to Camelot before the celebrations begin."

I exchanged a stunned look with Regulus.

_Camelot?!?_


	4. Put Me Back Where I Came From

July 1997

"Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice," Amaya said, breaking the long silence that had fallen over the office. The older woman seated opposite herself and David frowned over her spectacles at the pair of them. Amaya's gratitude did not compensate for the fact that 'short notice' had been nothing more than literally marching on the castle and engaging in an argument with the gargoyle standing in the way of the Headmistress's office. Amaya's native accent echoed in her private thoughts as she recalled some of the crass phrases she'd used to illustrate her displeasure.

"Of course," Professor McGonagall replied curtly. "To what do I owe the, err, pleasure?"

Some of her inner fire rekindled and Amaya whipped out the letter she'd received not two days earlier. "I received word from your Minister that our daughter is dead! I demand a proper explanation as to why he could have been led to such an error in judgement. Where is my daughter?"

"I understand your frustration, Mrs. Strother-Kowalski, but I'm afraid Scrimgeour has told you the truth. The Death Eaters, that is to say, a group that practices dark magic and follows a man called Lord-"

"I know what a Death Eater is," Amaya snapped. "I was briefly engaged to one."

McGonagall raised a single eyebrow and continued. "Death Eaters invaded the castle with aims to assassinate our previous Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. According to eye-witness accounts, including my own, Ms. Kowalski first engaged with the Death Eaters out in the forbidden forest. She tried to hold them off on her own, exhausting herself and fell into their hands as a hostage. They then used the Imperius Curse on her, forcing her to fight anyone who tried to attack the Death Eaters. Ms. Kowalski then fought off the effects of the Imperius Curse and began to fight back from where she'd been standing at the base of the Astronomy Tower. Before the Death Eaters tried to escape, one of them caused a distraction by collapsing said tower, while Ms. Kowalski and a Death Eater (by the name of Thorfinn Rowle,) remained beneath and inside it as the whole of the tower crumbled and fell to the castle grounds. I'm sure you saw the efforts to rebuild it on your approach…Afterwards we found Rowle's broken and mangled corpse, but while we were unable to unearth Lian's body there is no way she could have survived the fall. You can't apparate within the Hogwarts grounds, either. I'm terribly sorry for your-"

"If you say you're sorry for our loss I'll burn your desk to a crisp," Amaya said, her voice steady but her eyes cold. "I would like to see the remaining rubble."

McGonagall winced. "As I have already said, we are in the midst of repairs. The rubble, as you put it, has since been…"

"Been what?" David asked evenly, a slight edge to his voice.

"Vanished." McGonagall raised her voice to drown Amaya's indignation and fury. "I assure you, we were quite certain it was only rock and broken stone before banishing it. I say again, your daughter is nowhere to be found."

Amaya stiffened at the woman's choice of words. It brought up a rush of memories from thirteen years ago, when Oliver had been declared missing. The auror's reports all came out the same: your son is nowhere to be found. Not dead, per se, but untraceable. She released a long exhale, her eyes gazing at the desk as she tried to see the connection, the hidden clue that was staring at her in the face. "Thank you for your time, Headmistress. My husband and I will see ourselves out." She rose gracefully from her chair, David a fraction of a second behind her, and together they turned and went to leave the office. Before they could exit however, Amaya lingering at the door frame as David held it open for her, McGonagall had one more thing to say.

"I truly am sorry, Mrs. and Mr. Kowalski. Lian was a gifted young girl. All who knew her shall mourn her passing."

Amaya nodded mutely, and pressed on down the spiral staircase, past the gargoyle who huffed angrily at the sight of her, and on out through the great double doors of the castle. When she and David were alone, crossing the grass in relative silence, only then did she speak. "Lian is a gifted girl, and she's alive. I can feel it."

"Glad it's not just me," David replied, his voice light but his expression dark. "Still, I should've tried harder to make her return to Ilvermorny."

"There's no use dwelling on that now," said Amaya, taking a final glance back at Hogwarts castle. "We can't change the past. All we can do now is keep an ear to ground, and wait for the merest hint that she's alive and still fighting."

David inhaled sharply. "Fighting?"

She smiled up at her husband, squeezing his hand. "Oh, you know Lian. She's always ready for a fight."

* * *

Somewhere in the English countryside, sometime during the summer of 1975:


End file.
